Even though there were swathes of empty seats and crushes outside the stadium, kickoff went ahead as planned at 9pm local time last night.

More than 1,000 spectators were still queueing to enter the 67,349-capacity venue 10 minutes before the start of the match, and one expressed fear for their life to British newspaper the Daily Mail.

Fans were still queuing 15 minutes after kickoff, and it has been reported by London's Evening Standard some were granted entry, despite stewards not recognising their seat allocations.

Similar issues of fans facing difficulties entering the stadium also arose at the Stade de Bordeaux for the earlier match between Ireland and Romania.

World Rugby claimed it was looking into issues faced by supporters.

"Fans are the heartbeat of the tournament and we would like to apologise to fans impacted by yesterday’s access challenges," the governing body told insidethegames in a statement.

"We are working hard to enhance the experience for all visiting Marseille for Rugby World Cup 2023.

"The France 2023 Organising Committee can confirm that it is taking steps to improve access to Stade de Marseille following delays ahead of the Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool D match between England and Argentina, which resulted in a number of fans taking their seats after kickoff.”

England won the match 27-10.

The Stade Vélodrome and Stade de Bordeaux are due to host football matches during next year's Olympic Games. 

Before the start of the tournament, French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra had promised the country had learned lessons and revised its security policy after last year's men's UEFA Champions League between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France.

The French authorities were widely criticised for disturbing images and videos of bottlenecks, crushes and the indiscriminate use of pepper spray on supporters at the main venue for Paris 2024, and fans were also victims of assaults and robberies outside the ground.

Oudéa-Castéra, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and football's European governing body UEFA were also panned for proven baseless claims ticketless supporters were responsible for the chaos which were viewed as an attempt to shift blame onto Liverpool fans.

A French Senate report last year described the events as a "warning shot" before the Rugby World Cup and Paris 2024, while a damning independent report commissioned by UEFA found "it is remarkable no one lost their life".

The Stade de France is due host athletics, Para athletics, rugby sevens and the Closing Ceremonies at next year's Olympics and Paralympics.